Since 2009, NHS Tayside has increased its spending on agency locum doctors by 1080%, by 213% in NHS Forth Valley and by 56% in NHS Fife.
This year NHS Tayside was one of four health boards that required financial help from the Scottish Government in order to break even.
Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP, Murdo Fraser, has expressed concern over these findings considering the financial pressure health boards are finding themselves in.
The cost of using agency locums is generally higher than for internal NHS locum doctors.
In October the financial watchdog, Audit Scotland, warned that NHS boards are facing difficulty meeting their financial targets. The review stated that the reliance of many boards on locum staff to cover vacant medical posts exacerbated the problem.
Commenting Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“Agency Locum doctors are an expensive alternative to internal locums and for health boards struggling to balance the books their cost comes as a real strain.
“In October, NHS Tayside was identified as one of four health boards in receipt of Scottish Government bail outs and I can only imagine that the 1080% increase in agency locums will have contributed to their budgetary problems.
“As well as the financial cost of employing agency locums there is also a patient safety element as doctors hired through private agencies often have no knowledge of the hospital or its practices.
“Patient well-being must be the number one priority for hospitals in Perth and Kinross, Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire and the Scottish Government must get to the bottom of why health boards are struggling to recruit the right doctors.”